Final MM 73 Pinewood 40
- Thread starter mkbgdns
- Start date
absence. can only report what's in this morning's paper. looks like MM led wire-to-wire. made 11 3's to P's 5. can surmise P was cold from beyond the arc, shot 23% overall. Clair Steele was 4 of 5 on 3's. Ionescu had 29 pts, 14 rebounds. notably, she scored all her points from the field--lately she's struggled a bit there, but scored a lot from the line. MM shot 50%+ on 2's, 33% on 3's, and launched 33. so much for the Sleep Train Willies. P had nobody in double figures, but their usual balanced scoring. Coach Sopak acknowledged his team's defense.
a disappointment for P who can certainly be proud of their season, including the biggest win in their storied program's history. it took back-to-back losses for MM to finally win the Open final. a strong wind doesn't blow all day...
a disappointment for P who can certainly be proud of their season, including the biggest win in their storied program's history. it took back-to-back losses for MM to finally win the Open final. a strong wind doesn't blow all day...
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That's a big statement by MM.....I'd like to see MM get some love for that big win nationally. How about getting moved up in the national standings? I wonder if Sopak regrets not playing in the Nike TOC now? it may have cost him a chance to win the national championship.
for the record......I was stating back at the end of December to watch out for MM!! ....and if I remember I had quite a few naysayers telling me I didn't know what I was talking about....lol......MM has given an awful lot of blowouts/beatdowns on some really good teams. They have been doing it all year from their foundation game on.
all in all quite the year for Mr Sopak.....an AAU national championship with the Cal-Stars...and possibly the Calif OPEN championship with MM.....the DOUBLE WHAMMY!!
VERY impressive.....
for the record......I was stating back at the end of December to watch out for MM!! ....and if I remember I had quite a few naysayers telling me I didn't know what I was talking about....lol......MM has given an awful lot of blowouts/beatdowns on some really good teams. They have been doing it all year from their foundation game on.
all in all quite the year for Mr Sopak.....an AAU national championship with the Cal-Stars...and possibly the Calif OPEN championship with MM.....the DOUBLE WHAMMY!!
VERY impressive.....
If Miramonte wins out, they probably will finish No. 2 in the nation to Duncanville. And of course they can claim the national title as well ... it actually hurt them that St. Mary's lost because beating No. 1 would have strengthened their case.
Then again, Chaminade is no gimme. That one-two punch is awfully hard to guard.
Then again, Chaminade is no gimme. That one-two punch is awfully hard to guard.
Nike TOC exactly...even if they beat Nade they finish second...they should not have ducekd the Nike TOC ...you can't duck the nike TOC if you want to win the National Championship...surprise ...I hope they win and then finish second in the rankings 
One of the hardest things about scheduling is figuring out where your team is likely to be at the end of the next season, and where you want it to be.
So if you feel you have a pretty good team that has an outside shot to win a state title, you schedule one way; if you feel have a chance to win the national title, you schedule another. But here's one important factor: In terms of the national rankings, there's No. 1 and then everything else (just like with state championships). If you're top five or top ten or whatever, that's great, but it's not necessarily compelling.
So Tom Gonsalves took his team on the road for the entire Christmas vacation, a draining and expensive experience, because he felt he could win the national title. How many other California teams did that? Long Beach Poly, which went to the TOC and then came to the Jamboree; Oaks Christian (same); Brea Olinda (same); and maybe some others.
Of that group, only Brea is still alive ... and one could argue that fatigue and the mental pressure of the long season finally caught up to some of these teams in the long California postseason. Or not. It's hard to say, really ...
But how many people here would have told Kelly Sopak "You will be playing for the national title in March, so keep your kids on the road the entire Christmas break and don't let them have a Christmas holiday because it's going to be you and Chaminade on March 26"?
Or how many would have said "Kelly, you've got a pretty good team and if you stay out of the Open you can probably win a state title, but otherwise you might be on the fringes of the national rankings and you'll lose in the Open at some point"?
So if you feel you have a pretty good team that has an outside shot to win a state title, you schedule one way; if you feel have a chance to win the national title, you schedule another. But here's one important factor: In terms of the national rankings, there's No. 1 and then everything else (just like with state championships). If you're top five or top ten or whatever, that's great, but it's not necessarily compelling.
So Tom Gonsalves took his team on the road for the entire Christmas vacation, a draining and expensive experience, because he felt he could win the national title. How many other California teams did that? Long Beach Poly, which went to the TOC and then came to the Jamboree; Oaks Christian (same); Brea Olinda (same); and maybe some others.
Of that group, only Brea is still alive ... and one could argue that fatigue and the mental pressure of the long season finally caught up to some of these teams in the long California postseason. Or not. It's hard to say, really ...
But how many people here would have told Kelly Sopak "You will be playing for the national title in March, so keep your kids on the road the entire Christmas break and don't let them have a Christmas holiday because it's going to be you and Chaminade on March 26"?
Or how many would have said "Kelly, you've got a pretty good team and if you stay out of the Open you can probably win a state title, but otherwise you might be on the fringes of the national rankings and you'll lose in the Open at some point"?
I don't think they are getting penalized for not being in the TOC. I just think it would have helped them move up the national rankings quicker. And I agree that NOT playing MITTY and SMS hurt their chances also. If they had gone thru Mitty(top 10 nationally at the time) and SMS(as #1)and then Chaminade(top20), they may have been able to backdoor the National Championship as that would have been quite the run.
What a clueless sack of monkey-shizzle this Jazz fool is !! No wonder people run away and hide when they see him in the gym....and remind their kids to do the same. He just doesn't get it. MM would ALSO love to do just that.....win the Open and finish second nationally. What a huge accomplishment !!Nike TOC exactly...even if they beat Nade they finish second...they should not have ducekd the Nike TOC ...you can't duck the nike TOC if you want to win the National Championship...surprise ...I hope they win and then finish second in the rankings
Duncanville is a very hard case. The coach will not leave Texas, believing that Texas is the best basketball in the country, and that inviting a couple out-of-state teams to their own tournament is enough.
That said, though, the team is loaded with talent, went 39-0 and did win a very tough state. And, more important, those who have seen Duncanville believe the team is worthy of being No. 1 -- and that they have more than Miramonte. The consensus was that in a seven-game series with SMS, it would go seven ...
That said, though, the team is loaded with talent, went 39-0 and did win a very tough state. And, more important, those who have seen Duncanville believe the team is worthy of being No. 1 -- and that they have more than Miramonte. The consensus was that in a seven-game series with SMS, it would go seven ...
does anyone think that SMS was a different team after losing to Pinewood? (they may have become a better team) does anyone think Duncanville became a better team that night?
ranking is a fantasy game, with rules unrelated to the rules of basketball. think Dungeons and Dragons. if it floats your boat, go for it. it has nothing to do with the kids or the game. "who's #1" is, however, a potential sign of testosterone poisoning.
blocking out on a rebound is real. hitting a 3 is real. blocking a shot is real. a team outscoring an opponent is real. #1 is fantasy. #4 is fantasy. #24 is fantasy. #224 is fantasy.
ranking is a fantasy game, with rules unrelated to the rules of basketball. think Dungeons and Dragons. if it floats your boat, go for it. it has nothing to do with the kids or the game. "who's #1" is, however, a potential sign of testosterone poisoning.
blocking out on a rebound is real. hitting a 3 is real. blocking a shot is real. a team outscoring an opponent is real. #1 is fantasy. #4 is fantasy. #24 is fantasy. #224 is fantasy.
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I know you play it that way, Clay, and you're the most knowledgable of players. I get impatient when people post as if it's about the kids, not about their own Fantasy League. you've spent half your life working w kids on Reality, you know the difference.
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